[OT] Engine braking

[Walter Bright]

On 7/30/2013 12:16 PM, Adam Wilson wrote:
> Back driving ("compression braking" in the automotive world) is indeed a
> recommend procedure in modern cars. My dad (ASE Master Tech) recommends it as a
> way to save wear on the brakes and is as you've noted, quite an efficient use of
> energy. Heck, it's one of the first things he taught me how to do when I was
> learning how to drive.
>
> Toyota took it one step further and built a capability into the Prius where the
> electric driveline reverses it's polarity and uses motors to slow down the car
> while simultaneously recharging the battery as the car slows down instead of
> using the brakes. It's called regenerative braking. Needless to say, we don't do
> brakes very often on Prius'.

If the engine *is designed for it*, that's a different story entirely. The 
engines I work on were not designed for it.